Brazil’s Top 5 Teen Talents That Shined Bright for Countries Football Legacy
Brazil’s footballing dominance and passion are unmatched, with many considering the sport synonymous with the Brazilian national team.
The five-time World Cup champions are well-known for their “jogo bonito” attitude and track record of producing some of the best players in the world; the most recent example is 17-year-old sensation Endrick, who scored on Saturday against England.
1. Endrick de Sousa
Endrick, the newest player to come off the country’s assembly line of outrageously gifted attackers, created history on Saturday at Wembley by scoring the game-winning goal for Brazil against England in just his third international game.
Endrick, who is 17 years, 8 months, and 2 days old, opened his Selecao account nine minutes after coming off the substitute in the 1-0 triumph, making him the stadium’s youngest male goalscorer for club or nation.
Since making his debut for Palmeiras at the juvenile age of sixteen, the Real Madrid-bound attacker has already won two Brazilian Serie A championships and is widely regarded as the nation’s new golden kid.
Coach Dorival Junior of Brazil said that “if he keeps up the attitude he has shown up to now, he will be a very important name in Brazilian football and world football.”
2. Pele
All new Brazilian stars are unavoidably measured against the everlasting standard set by the late Pele.
At 16 years, 8 months, and 14 days, pele became Brazil’s youngest goalscorer ever. He went on to score 77 goals for his nation, which is second most in Selecao yellow.
His international career was characterized by World Cup success; at the age of seventeen, he won Sweden’s first title in 1958. He went on to win the country’s second and third Jules Rimet trophies in 1962 and 1970.
3. Ronaldo Nazario
In 1994, Ronaldo made his debut for Brazil when, at the age of seventeen years, seven months, and twelve days, he scored his nation’s third-youngest goals ever against Iceland.
Four years later in South Korea/Japan, the striker made up for a sad defeat in the 1998 World Cup final when he inexplicably became ill before kickoff, scoring both goals as Brazil won a record-tying fifth world title.
During his 17-year international career, Ronaldo gained 99 caps and scored 62 goals, making him a global superstar in the game.
4. Neymar Jr.
With 79 goals in 128 games, Neymar is the all-time top scorer for the Selecao. Although he hasn’t yet delivered a sixth World Cup, he has lived up to the hype since making his debut for the squad at the age of 18. Neymar is probably nearing the conclusion of his career with the national team.
During Brazil’s 2014 World Cup hosting, Neymar carried a lot of responsibility for his nation and scored four goals in five games.
Unfortunately, he was hurt in the quarterfinals against Colombia, and without their lucky charm, the hosts lost to Germany 7-1 in the semifinals.
5. Alexandre Pato
Most of the time, young shoulders in the seventh-largest nation on earth cannot handle the pressures of football. The gifted Alexandre Pato was one such instance of this.
Many could not help but draw comparisons when, as an eighteen-year-old rookie, Pato scored the game-winning goal against Sweden in 2008, the same nation that a youthful Pele led Brazil to victory in the World Cup fifty years earlier.
However, it was not meant to be, and the quick-footed center forward would only go on to earn 27 caps overall, the last of which he received in 2013 at the age of just 24.
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